Social action training and tools

Quaker faith is an active one. We offer a diverse range of workshops, courses and resources for Quakers and others working for nonviolent social change.

Social action training

Workshops

Our Turning the Tide programme offers training for groups wanting to take action on issues of shared concern. Workshops are free on request. We only ask for a donation of travel expenses for our trainers.

We can help with:

Planning effective nonviolent campaigns

Making your social change work more sustainable

Tools for better group working, including facilitation skills training

We work closely with the group beforehand to develop a workshop that best meets the need. This means we don't have a set list of workshops, but example themes include: Power and change; Nonviolence and violence; Planning a campaign; Spirituality and activism; Preparing for nonviolent direct action.

Our workshops are based on the active participation and interaction of all participants. We think that groups know their own issue best - and we see our role as enabling groups to find their own solutions. We usually find that a half-day or full-day workshop is best. If you're organising your own event or conference and would like Turning the Tide to contribute, we can also offer a 1-hour 'taster' workshop.

Support for Quaker meetings and groups

Turning the Tide can visit your Meeting or group to help plan a campaign, start a community project, or facilitate a session to develop the links between your faith and activism.

Courses

We offer more in-depth courses for those who want to develop their social change work further. Courses are open to anyone with a passion for changing situations of injustice and building a better world. The content varies, but there is always a strong emphasis on the participants applying the skills to their own lives.

Resources

Taking action to confront suffering and injustice in our world can be challenging, and can throw up many questions. These resources have been designed to help Quakers and other groups campaigning for social change

Toolkit for Action

Quaker Peace & Social Witness has put together a Toolkit for Action to help Friends take more effective action on issues they care about. Drawing from knowledge and stories of Quaker witness across the UK, it offers tools and guidance for creating change in our world.

Find out more

Turning the Tide works with any group working for peace and justice. We work with both Quakers and others, and in the past we have worked with anti-nuclear campaigners, co-housing projects, anti-fracking networks, and many more.

Our small staff team based in Friends House, London supports a network of skilled volunteer trainers to deliver training throughout the UK. We have also worked extensively with social justice activists overseas read more about our work in East Africa.

We believe that nonviolence is the most powerful tool for achieving transformative social change – and we draw our inspiration from people like George Lakey, Gandhi and Martin Luther King. We are the only organisation in the UK offering social action training with this specific focus on nonviolence.